The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1887-05-26
Flat Rock Items.

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Allen preached on Temperance. Don't
think we ever heard a more forcible SER
mon on the subject, and one which was
listened to with more interest. One broth
er's horse broke loose during service some
one said to him, Your horse is loose = and
he replied, "Just let him go!" As much
as to say he could not afford to lose any
part of the sermon. We would be gla d to
give the reader the sermon in full, but
could not keep up with the preacher. We
only cot the main points Of the discourse,
which was one hour and fifteen minutes
long. He read the 9th chapter of 1st Co.
rinthians, and in his explanation OF that
chapter he said there was division among
the brethren of the church at Corinth and
if he was not mistaken the church at Co.
rinth was not the last which could boast
of division among the brethren. In one
respect, at least, Baptist Churches of the
present day were somewhat like the church.
es in the days Of the Apostles. There were
two classes in the church ut Corinth-
the progressive class and the class of
old "fogies.n There was in the market, or
in, the heather temple, probably mixed
with other meat, the flesh Of animals that
had been sacrificed to idols. Now. one
class believed that it was Bill to buy or to
eat the meat of an animal whose life and
blood had been sacrificed to idols, and the
other class was progressive" enough to
know that an idol was no god, and they,
perhaps, said We will eat the meat if we
want It; there is no harm in it-there can
be no harm in it. They wrote to Paul
about the matter, perhaps not so much to
ask his advice as to inform him that they
were: on the right side of the question.
When the Apostle wrote back to the breth.
rem he did not say of course you brethren
ara just right on that meat question-go
ahead and eat as much meat as you can,
and learn those old, picsyunish brethren q
lesson. No, he did not write that way,
but he wrote something like this: Now,
ey touching things offered unto idols, we
know that we all have knowledge; we all
know something as to that matter, but the
man who. thinks he knows it all is the very
man who does not know anything as he
ought to know IL. Even il the eating of
meat, in itself, does. not make you any
worse, on the other. hand it does not make
you any better, and would advise you to
take heed lest by any means this liberty of
yours become stumbling block to them
that are weak. Don't lie down and stretch
yourself out upon the edge of tho pit,
where the near.sighted, tottering, weak
brother will walk, for he may stumble
over you, and fall headlong into hell. Oh,
yes, you have right to lie down there if
you want to, and you may make the old,
oft-repeated excuse, II don't see any harm
in it," but would turn upon you with this
in your lying down there in ITSELF On the
other hand, is there any good in itP Will
God love you better because you have tried
TO see how far you could 60 into sin with
cut making the fatal step? Then there is
the awful danger of becoming accessory to
the condemnation of an immortal soul.
To sum up the whole matter, it is by far
the safest and best plan to abstain from
anything which would offend your weak
brother. If meat make my brother to Of
fend, i will eat no flesh while the world
stands. After short prayer and the singing
Of hymn, he announced his text: Look
not thou upon the wine when it is red,
when it givethhis color in the cup, when
it moveth itself Alright. Atthe last it biteth
like serpent, and stingeth like an adder"
Proverbs %: 31-32. he said this was q
large world, and there were great many
people in it, and remembered that an old
school teacher once wrote in his copy book
''smany. men of many minds,nn and be had
since learned that there was about as many
different minds as there were different men,
He told of an cid deacon who said, "I am
glad that everybody is not alike, for then
every body would want my wife, eyes,
said another deacon, "I think it is best
that everybody is not alike, for if every.
body was like ME your wife would die sim
gle.h He said he was like Collins ram
he had head of his own-and was willing
for everybody else to have heads and opin-
ions Of their own. The first point in the
sermon was that the bite of the serpent and
the sting Of the adder which turks in the
wine glass is hid at first; it is at the last
that it biteth like serpent and stingeth
like an adder. Here he used several strik-
ing and forcible illustrations, simple enough
to fix the point in the minds Of the chill
dren, and wound up this point by saying
awine is m ecker, strong drink is raging,
and whosoever is deceived thereby is not
wise." His second point was to notice the
effect produced by the bite of this deadly
serpent. One effect is the production of an
unnatural and never-to-b satisfied appe-
tite. Water would slack the thirst of the
thirsty man, wholesome food would satisfy
the hunger OF the hungry man, but strong
drink would not satisfy. On the other
hand, it would create within man that
which could not be satisfied. One drink
calls for another. He appealed to the con-
science of Every drinking man, and asked
the question, sis it an easy matter to quit
drinking?" This is one reason why we
are so anxious to keep the boys from ever
taking the first dram. Strong drink acts
upon the brain and dethrones reason. Is
man under the influence of strong drink
as competent to attend to business as when
he is sober? He told Of q drunk man
whose wife died during his absence, and
when he came home drunk he took the
body Of his dead wife and pitched it out
at the window. Another effect produced
by strong drink is the ruin of our health.
Some say that whiskey ia q medicine,
and that they can not live without it.
Here the preacher turned his battery upon
DR.. Scudday, and asked him some ques.
tions, and it was soon found that the Doc
tor !, agreed with the preacher. Strong
drink acts upon the heart; it drives out
the good and stirs UP the evil. He had
never seen a drunkard who would not
deny being a drunkard. Go to that man
whom you saw drunk last night, and ask
him if he was drunk, and he will tell you
no-he was not drunk-he was only q,
little tight. Strong drink leads into all
kinds of vice and immortality. How often
do we hear it said of the man who has
committed a crime, he would not have
done it if he had been sober. The third
point in the sermon was that God himself
prohibits the use of strong drink. Here
be went from Genesis to Revelation, and
gave more Scripture upon the subject of
Prohibition than we ever heard given
before. This was his strongest point, and
he dwelt longest upon it. He said all the
churches in the land are against the whis-
key traffic. The Pope in Rome had issued
his edict against IL. The Methodist and
Presbyterians and Baptists have been
fighting it for years. More disgrace has
been brought upon the Baptist church
from this one source than from all other
sources combined. He was in favor of
Prohibition because it would seriously
interfere with the DEVILS planting here on
earth. With Prohibition the Devil cannot
plant near 80 large crop of drunkards as
he could with open barrooms. A great
many of our boys, who are to-day pure, so
far as drinking whiskey is concerned, may
remain pure If We close the barrooms.
Prohibition will make it more difficult for